11 news at six starts now.
In a matter of hours, Texas going
from cold temps to polar plunge
with a blast of Arctic air.
And these conditions can get dangerous
if you do not have heat to keep you warm.
We have team coverage tonight
as the Arctic blast sets
in. Let's start with meteorologist
David Paul and Tim Pendejas.
Dave we've been preparing for days and
now this freeze is starting to settle in.
Mark the time right now.
This is the moment when
we dropped to 32 at Bush.
Should have caught in the airport.
So that's Houston station of records.
So we are now at freezing
at Bush at 32 happened.
Right here at 6:00 o'clock in the evening.
Hobby is just a little
bit above freezing at 35.
Sugarland's now freezing at 32.
Tomball 30, Conroe 28, Huntsville 25.
We thought it might be right at
sunset when we got down to freezing,
and that's exactly what has happened.
Winds outside.
This is sustained winds northwest at
22 at Bush Hobby northwest at 28.
Galveston NW sustained at 25.
But we're getting gusts up above 3035 at
Houston's Bush at a continental hobby at 38.
Pearland, 46 mile an hour gust
in the past hour Galveston.
Like us to 43,
that puts feels like wind chill,
temperatures bitterly cold.
It feels like 22 at Hobby.
Pearland feels like 24.
Sugarland right now feels like 18 degrees.
Huntsville feels like 12.
Brenham feels like 11 degrees.
Tim pantages.
Not only is it cold,
a little bit ahead of schedule,
but it is amazing how quickly
temperatures have dropped
as this front has moved in.
Yeah, David, locally we've seen over
the last three hours some spots dropping
over 20 degrees and you can see
that's been the case pretty much all
across Texas over the last 24 hours.
The temperatures are significantly
colder thanks to the intrusion of
this Arctic air mass from the north.
Anywhere from fifteen 2530 / 40 degrees
colder right now than it was at this same
time yesterday across the state of Texas.
Here's where numbers currently stand.
It's 4IN Amarillo, 24 at Austin.
You saw David point out Houston is
now dropped to the freezing Mark,
28 San Antonio San Angelo in the upper teens.
But when you factor in winds that are
gusting here locally over 40 miles an hour,
pretty much the same case across
the entire state it.
Knocks it down to feeling like it's
below 0 at Abilene over Lubbock.
Amarillo feels like 18 below and
five degrees below 0 out in Dallas.
Now these temperatures will come
in our direction tonight.
We'll talk about how low they go and
what it looks like for the Christmas
weekend in just a few minutes.
Mia,
ready
or not, here it comes. Thank you, Tim.
All the information you need about
how to make it through the freeze
and info on household supplies
is available to you on khou.com.
Get the links by texting the
word freeze to 713-526-1111.
A lot of people are monitoring
power grid conditions, including our
own Jeremy Rogowski, who's tracking
real time data for us. Jeremy got
around the big question how these
plunging temperatures statewide might
impact whether the lights stay on.
Let's check out Arcots dashboard.
Right now. Conditions are good in the
green with plenty of reserves to go around.
Going over to this graphic, the bottom line,
the current power demand on the grid,
the top line, the available supply.
As you can see, we have this
cushion right now and in the hours.
Ahead, but we are keeping close tabs
on center points energy outage tracker.
You can see 135 current outages,
some 8500 customers without power.
Right now. You 2 can track all of
this at home or on the go.
We link you there on ku.com
or on the KG 11 app.
Ron.
Alright, thank you so much.
Jeremy Rogalski, Centerpoint is
offering a few heating tips,
including keeping your thermostat
set no higher than 68 degrees.
They also recommend keeping the temps.
Said it's 65 while you're home,
and when no one is there,
set the thermostat
at 60. And right now, warming centers
are open across the area if you need it,
here's the list of centers in Fort Bend,
Galveston and Montgomery counties.
They'll be open through Friday,
when we're expecting the coldest chill.
In Harris County.
A half dozen options are available
on your screen right now.
Go ahead and take out your cell
phone and take a picture again.
All the warming centers are open now,
and service dogs, they are allowed.
This Arctic blast is.
Dangerous for people working outside
these temperatures can also be deadly
for people living in the elements.
Today, law enforcement officers
and volunteers were out trying
to help the most vulnerable.
Adam Bennett is live in West Houston.
Adam work crews are also making adjustments.
That's right, Ron. Basically, as the
temperature has gone down this afternoon,
the number of layers needed has gone up.
Supervisors told me that is really
the key to keeping their crews safe.
And the elements.
One of them told me that he's
telling his crew basically,
hey, stay inside the vehicle
for as long as you can.
Stay warm unless you absolutely
need to go out to do some work.
As the afternoon has gone on,
we have seen plenty of people layering up,
people working in the elements.
That includes a landscaping
crew not far from the station,
as well as some construction crews.
As well now a bit earlier this afternoon I
also checked in with a crew from Precinct
2 is one of their crews treats the roads,
the bridges,
when the weather gets bad.
They were going ahead and loading up
the trucks with a rock mix just in case
they would need to treat any road surfaces.
Again,
precipitation not expected to be
an issue during this freeze,
but they are also the crew that will
be out responding to any kind of
heavy debris like trees being down.
So they are ready,
they are on call dressed for the elements.
We also checked in with Precinct 4
Constable Mark Herman this afternoon.
We asked him how he plans to keep his
deputies warm while they're out on patrol.
We
have a police equipment that we have coats,
jackets, gloves and of course
there there are vehicles.
You know they're gonna a lot of
them will be in their vehicles but
when they're not they'll have their
coats and stuff on and you know we
we'll be looking out for each other.
This morning, Houston police departments
homeless outreach team visited
one of the encampments downtown.
They were there to talk to the people living
there about their options for staying warm.
They also handed out Flyers that had the
information about those warming centers
that we mentioned just a minute ago.
And we actually met some just
everyday Houstonians out there
who have seen the encampments.
They've seen the people living there and
they just wanted to hand out blankets
to help people stay as warm as possible.
The constable Herman would precinct 4.
He did tell us that his deputies
would be performing welfare checks.
At homeless encampments as well.
And he said, in fact,
they'll do welfare checks for any citizens.
He says if you're concerned about
somebody during this cold snap,
you can just give law enforcement a call.
Ron Amia,
we all have to look after each other.
Thank you so much,
Adam Bennett.
Between today and tomorrow,
millions of people are braving
the cold and traveling for
the Christmas holiday weekend.
Houston Airport officials are
asking for patience, with expected
delays until this weather passes.
Gerald Harris is traveling by car.
At this hour, some of those folks on
the freeway are likely headed to the.
Airport, Gerald.
Yeah, you're absolutely right.
And airport officials say they
believe they're in good shape to get
passengers where they need to go.
There's not a concern about snow
or ice here in the Houston area,
but one concern is the ripple effect
of wintry weather and other parts of
the country that could cause delays and
cancellations at Houston's airports.
If you're traveling,
you're urged to give yourself extra time
for other travel process leave early,
check your flight status and be patient.
There's a lot of people that are going
to be traveling today and tomorrow,
so you're going to need some extra
time just to navigate those roadways
to find the parking spot and then
expect a little bit longer lines at
the check-in counters at the TSA line.
And obviously with this weather,
it's a good idea to give you
more additional time.
Around 140,000 people are expected
to travel through George Bush
International today and Friday,
with approximately 40,000 travelers passing
through Hobby Airport today and tomorrow,
and thousands more are expected
to hit the Texas highways.
Here are the current conditions here
on US 59 N traffic is moving along,
but you do see a lot of brake lights,
so certainly slow down on the roadway.
If you are traveling to
your destination by car,
make sure your car battery is in good.
Condition as well as your
tire pressure fuses.
And if you have an emergency kit ready,
make sure it's ready and in your car just
in case you need to use it in Houston.
Gerald Harris, KHOU 11 news.